The Conversation

Who formally declares the winner of the US presidential election?

Written by Amy Dacey, Executive Director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics, American University

The 2000 and 2020 presidential elections were rarities in that the winner was not declared on election night.Franklin McMahon/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Unlike many other countries, where the president or prime minister is chosen by direct popular vote, in the United States a candidate may win the popular vote and still not be elected to the nat...

Sudan’s civil war has left at least 62,000 dead by our estimate − but the true figure could be far higher

Written by Sarah Elizabeth Scales, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Environmental, Occupational, and Agricultural Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center

The ongoing war in Sudan has often been overlooked amid higher-profile conflicts raging across multiple continents. Yet the lack of media and geopolitical attention to this 18-month-long conflict has not made its devastation in terms of human lives any less stark.

Since fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the...

With Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, Republicans’ ‘strict father’ has become the creepy uncle

Written by Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State University

Tucker Carlson at the Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

When Tucker Carlson, the reactionary pundit fired in 2023 from Fox News, preceded Donald Trump at the Turning Point rally in Duluth, Georgia, on Oct. 23, 2024, he roused attendees by tacitly likening Trump to a stern father and...

Independent voters think for themselves and stay out of politics – 3 essential reads

Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US

Jessie Harris, left, a registered independent voter in South Carolina, casts a ballot in February 2024.Joe Lamberti for The Washington Post via Getty Images

In the 2024 election, the two major-party campaigns and many news reporters are spending a lot of time talking about independent voters – those who are neither aligned with the Republican...

Tariffs are back in the spotlight, but skepticism of free trade has deep roots in American history

Written by Erik Guzik, Assistant Clinical Professor of Management, University of Montana

Noted economic nationalist Alexander Hamilton.Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

One of the more surprising developments in recent American politics has been the backlash against free trade.

As recently as a decade ago, Democrats and Republicans alike generally favored free trade. But with the 2024 presidential election just days away, both Republican Donald...

New Orleans schools still separate and unequal 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education

Written by Connie L. Schaffer, Professor of Teacher Education, University of Nebraska Omaha

First graders led the desegregation of New Orleans' public schools in November 1960.Bettmann via Getty

Sixty-four years ago this November, public schools in New Orleans began to desegregate. School buildings once designated as “white” opened their doors to Black students. The integration process, which deeply divided the city, was led...

In Hawaii, parasites and viruses team up in the battle against fruit flies – an entomologist explains the implication for global pest control

Written by Kelsey Coffman, Assistant Professor of Entomology & Plant Pathology, University of Tennessee

Diachasmimorpha longicaudata, a parasitoid wasp that helps control pests.Sheina Sim, CC BY

Take a stroll along one of the beaches on Hawaii Island in late summer, and you’ll likely stumble upon almond-shaped fruits lying in the sand. Known as false kamani nuts, or tropical almonds, they fall from tall, shady Terminalia catappa trees that line...

Rust Belt voters aren’t all white, but election coverage of the region often ignores the concerns of people of color there

Written by Christabel Devadoss, Assistant Professor in Global Studies and Human Geography, Middle Tennessee State University

Wisconsin voters lining up to cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm election, Oct. 25, 2022, in Milwaukee.Scott Olson/Getty Images

Every four years, national media turn their attention to the Rust Belt, a term that describes Midwestern industrial and manufacturing states whose economies were decimated by the decline of those industries in the...

The next president will play a key role in shaping US trade policy – here’s what voters need to know

Written by Bedassa Tadesse, Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth

From the ports of Los Angeles to the cornfields of Iowa, the U.S.’s international trade policy is a force that shapes the lives of every American. With the presidential election looming in November 2024, discussing trade policy isn’t just an academic exercise – it’s a civic responsibility.

As an economist, I have spent years...

Americans own guns to protect themselves from psychological as well as physical threats

Written by Nick Buttrick, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Many gun owners cite protection as a reason to carry a firearm. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Tim Walz and JD Vance all have something in common. All four of them, along with an estimated 42% of American adults, have lived in a home with at least one gun.

Gun ownership in the United States...